Chuck: The Tao of Morgan

In life all of us have to wrestle with love, family, and our purpose in life. When on the right path one finds everything moves smoothly and when not one finds difficulty. I’m really enjoying the third season of Chuck and their representation of those real struggles.

By using the intersect and chuck's ability to access it as a symbol of chuck's spiritual compass we get to clearly see when his life is out of balance. Like in life, when one gets so out of balance, there comes a time when a spiritual adviser comes along to put one back on the path. For Chuck this was the Tao of Morgan.

Chuck Verses the False Choice

Chuck’s purpose in life is facing a false choice between the old Chuck verses spy Chuck. Unfortunately by working within the confines of labels he is unable to see how both choices are wrong. Old Chuck denies how he is very capable and spy Chuck denies his emotions which is his source of strength. He has to find the real Chuck.

To protect Chuck’s family he made a false choice to keep them at a distance. This false choice is causing great problems in Chuck’s life because it is his family that grounds him. To protect them he need’s them close and to keep a distance between himself and his spy life.

In love Chuck made a false choice by believing Sarah is not an option. This false choice is preventing him from finding out what kind of romantic relationship really exists between them. He is left with unresolved emotions that also prevents any future choices. Thus the relationship with Hanna is not able to move forward because Chuck has not resolved his position with Sarah.

With all of those false choices Chuck is left lost and out of balance. This manifests it’s self by his inability to access the intersect. Then enters his spiritual advisor to put him back on the path.

Tao of Morgan

Chuck reveals his spy identity to Morgan. One might expect two years of lying to hurt the friendship but not in Morgan’s case because he understands the way. I love how out of all the people in Chuck’s life Morgan is his spiritual guide.

The Tao of Morgan: Follow your bliss and be true to yourself. This is the real secret to our purpose in life and it is a path not a destination.

The Real Chuck

The real Chuck is a very capable person who cares to do the good and protect innocent people from harm. He draws his strength from his emotions which is directly tied to his desire to do good and protect innocent people from harm. This is why Chuck’s emotions play such a vital role.

He gets back on the path of following his bliss and being true to himself after putting Morgan back into his life.

The Struggle Continues

Now we must see how chuck resolves his false choices that lead him off the path in the first place. I don’t see him finding his true self right away since it is his peers that keep perpetuating the false choice between being a spy or being his old self. Sarah sees the real Chuck but is unable to clearly tell him because of the unresolved feelings between them.

Will Chuck find his true self?

What kind of relationship do you see Chuck and Sarah having by the end of season three?

Looking Ahead at Season Three of Chuck

Zachary Levi sat down for an interview about season three of Chuck. Some of the answers were most amusing and others were quite revealing about what we can expect in season three.

The 13 episode arc is tightly written and wont be changed

The 6 additional episodes will be a mini arc in it’s own. Informed by the previous arc but not part of a bigger arc.

There will be some international travel in season 3.

Chuck will be more a part of the action like a Neo from the Matrix but he is a flawed superhero. He will kick butt at times but the intersect can fritz out when Chuck’s emotions get the better of him.

They will play more with who Chuck is. I love the tension between Chuck the good guy and the spy who has to lie and do darker things.

One of the cool things in the writing is that it’s noted that Chuck is becoming better and better at lying, which is good and bad. He’s losing himself in this world of espionage a little too well sometimes. Much to the chagrin of Sarah, who really likes Chuck for Chuck and doesn’t want him to lose who he is. I don’t think Chuck wants to lose who he is either, although he does want this spy life because it’s something that gives his life meaning and purpose outside of fixing people’s computers.

Review: Chuck 222 Chuck Versus the Ring

Review of: Chuck 222 Chuck Versus the Ring
Overall Rating: 10

On Ellie's and Awesome's wedding day, everything has to be perfect. This becomes increasingly difficult when Roark crashes the party wanting the intersect cube. Watch the episode streaming online above.

Chuck Versus the Ring is the best episode of the season. The writers did an amazing job by wrapping up the loose story arcs, while maintaining the tension of and bringing to the forefront the main story arcs for season three. The acting from everyone is just spot on and they even raised the bar on the music front.

The music throughout the series amazed me. In this episode they introduce a new best fight scene to music and get to feature Jeffster’s cover of the “Mr. Roboto” by Styx. I think that Vik Sahay and Scott Krinsky actually sang a cover and did a really good job with it. Their cover starts 14:53 in and below watch the music video of the Styx singing the original.

Do you think Orion is ambidextrous? He wears his cool wrist brace on his left arm operating it with his right hand suggesting that Orion is right handed yet he threw a left hook in a fight with Ted Roark favoring the left hand.

I really enjoyed how they brought the whole Chuck you are a hero motif to an apex in this episode. Throughout this season Chuck wrestles with what it means to be a hero. He learns what it means but still doubts that he is one. His father gives Chuck his final boon and sets him off down the path. Yet even with that Chuck still doubts his own awesomeness, but when the moment comes he makes the hero’s choice and puts together everything he learned from the series.

Spoiler Alert

I loved that they revealed Orion having the intersect in his head. It helped to explain how he was able to stay one step ahead of everyone for so long.

It was a nice touch to give Brice an honorable conclusion. First they reveal that he was not the jerk he was originally portrayed to be, that in fact he was working with Orion to help protect Chuck. Even towards the end he did not try to steal Chuck’s girl. I was kind of sad to see him go.

The Ring is brought to the forefront in this episode. First, the name of the episode having a double meaning was not lost on me, I loved it. Fulcrum is revealed to only be a part of the Ring which has different goals from Fulcrum. The Ring also appears to have even better quality spies which should make for a very interesting season three (fingers crossed and letters sent) upping the stakes for Chuck.

To coincide with the added challenge from The Ring , Chuck moved from a hero to a superhero. I love how season 2 was all about Chuck learning how to be a hero and in this episode they move him into being a superhero. He gets Orion’s arm brace allowing him technological access to almost all systems and he gets an intersect upgrade allowing him to pull a Neo from the Matrix. The combat flash was awesome, especially that they finished the scene with chuck giving an homage to the matrix and my most favorite quote of the season: “Guys… I know kung fu.” I hope that season three will open with some kind of scene where a Morpheus type character (ahem… Casey) steps in and asks Chuck to prove it.

Review: Chuck 221 Chuck Versus the Colonel

Leave no man behind. A running theme throughout this episode that I enjoyed. The writers did this show justice by flipping the usual situation on it's head. Instead of the military characters being the one upholding the leave no man behind philosophy they have Chuck upholding it and the government agency characters doing the opposite. The whole situation started when Chuck would not leave Orion behind taking Sarah with him as they go AWOL. Then Chuck risks himself and Sarah to save Casey, the very person who is hunting them, so that he was not left behind to fall into Fulcrum's hands. Then Chuck risks himself and Casey to save Sarah from Fulcrum agents so that she is not left behind. What was really fun was watching Casey and Sarah learn from Chucks actions enabling them to become more heroic.

Casey's gooey center... What! you say, yes Casey has a gooey soft inside. I love this aspect about this character because it gives him more depth. All Casey really desires is to be loved and accepted as a friend and family by his team members. This is why he turns so nasty toward them, if only they had invited him to go along to get Orion. Then there is Casey's scene in Castle which is more about betraying their friendship. After he is invited as a friend to join them then he is all happy again. Even at the end Casey clarifies to test Chuck to see if Chuck only thinks of him as a co-worker inviting Casey out of a sense of social obligation or duty or if Chuck generally wants him to join them as a friend.

Devon aka Awesome also had some great moments in this episode. He really steps up and investigates into all of the weirdness going on surrounding Chuck. I really loved how the writers used his character to knit together the Buy More events and Chuck's other spy life events. They also used the Devon character to fill in story line element but with more of a lighthearted tone to it which helped out the flow of this episode tremendously and did not feel artificially placed. Then there was Awesome’s freak out scene which was so well acted I laughed so hard at Ryan McPartlin's facial expressions.

*****Spoiler Alert ***** I found it interesting that the writers seem to be building to a completion of the series. I wonder if this is why people think that the show might end. I on the other hand doubt that. Do you really think that the counter programming really worked? Chuck could have a relapse or what Orion did was actually give Chuck more control where he now does not flash on stuff but can call up the info on demand, aka the induced flash like in a couple of episodes ago. Even if it did get the intersect out of Chuck's head his mind has demonstrated to have rare qualities for data storage and recall wouldn't he still be an asset to any one who could use chuck? ******End Alert ********

Likes 7

The Godfather running joke with Big Mike

The Ass Man, aka the assistant manager but only taking the first three letters from each word.

The team working together to make all members stronger

Casey's soft center

The symbolism in Casey and his ability to hit the target in the fireplace this time unlike in season one episode.

"Captain Awesome" was more involved in this episode and Ryan McPartlin did a great and entertaining job acting in his scenes.

I love the joke about how everyone comes and goes thorugh Chuck's window like it’s an open door.

Morgan's secret desire to move to Hawaii and become a hibachi chief

Jeff and Lester get into Casey's locker and their antics that follow

Death by a wall unit radiator, what a nice twist on a weapon.

How Chuck can not leave anyone behind

Sarah keeps kicking Casey's butt in multiple fights.

The development of the romantic story line between Chuck and Sarah

Dislikes

How everyone underestimates Fulcrum, thinking that one base in Barstow would be it.

Favorite Quotes

“Is every thing ok.” “Yea. No, dude, actually, for the first time everything is-is fine. It’s all over.”

"If it does work. Same result, but, you know, you should root for it. I mean, nobody likes a cynic."

“Bro take another step and I will drop you.” “Not bad for a frat boy.”

Review: Chuck 220 Versus the First Kill

Review of: Chuck 220 Versus the First Kill
Overall Rating: 8

When Chuck's ex Jill is recruited out of prison to rescue his father from Fulcrum, trust is put to the test; at the Buy More, Emmett devises a ruse to steal Big Mike's job. Watch the episode streaming online above.

Chuck verses the First Kill brings the theme of who can you trust to an apex. I really liked how they used Chuck’s and Morgan’s experiences to debate the various nuances that goes into trust. Trust is earned and reciprocated.

I love how they used the music in this episode. First they use Twisted Sister’s "We're Not Gonna Take It" to symbolize the rebellion at the Buy More. They Play Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like The Wolf” during a chase scene that added a hilarious joke level to the scene. The return of Twisted Sister’s "We're Not Gonna Take It" but in a cathartic, striking back context.

I was very skeptical when they claimed that the last few episodes of the second season of Chuck would change everything. As corny as they promotional campaign sounds I must agree. With the reveal of Chucks dad in the last episode and with the bold twists taken in this one it appears that they are systematically turning every aspect of Chuck’s life on it’s head. I must credit the writers for taking such a bold move. To risk the fun and successful template that they had for the show in order to keep it from going stale deserves applause and I’m excited to see if they can pull it off.

The look inside of a Fulcrum recruiting agency was a very interesting part of this episode. They have up on the walls a motivational poster “Leadership First” that has images that are very reminiscent of the Hitler youth images. I found this a fascinating touch and supporting of my theory that the struggle between the government and Fulcrum is symbolic of the struggle between democracy and fascism. When they show the video watch it closely…

Likes

The subtle and light debate on torture made through some quick comments by Casey and Sarah.

Casey and Sarah’s subtle interaction was hilarious in this episode for instance Sarah’s look when Casey makes a crack about how Chuck now qualifies for conjugal visits.

The Morgan a combat maneuver worthy of Max Smart

Emmett who is a Machiavellian genius

The “Are you wearing a wire?” running joke in this episode was brilliant.

The Homage of The Godfather

Dislikes / Concerns

The Subway product placement: I found it sleazy… Like Big Mike I too enjoy Subway but if I were to ask the question what food does Big Mike like the most what comes to mind? Doughnuts! they really build this up through out the first and second season without mention of his love of subs. They should have done a better job with the product placement. This scene really shattered the immaculate reality, fun and adventure that the show usually maintains so well.

Favorite Quotes

“Talk about beauty and the beast, you must be loaded”

“I don’t know if he wants to kill me or eat me” while playing hungry like the wolf by Duran Duran

Next Week: Chuck Versus the Colonel: When Chuck and Sarah go to free Steve, they discover spending time together allows for uncharted chemistry.

Spoiler Alert

The Morgan: A combat maneuver invented by Morgan in school used to defend himself while being beat up by girls. Chuck gives more credibility to this maneuver in a brilliant Max Smart manner when Chuck gets his first two kills because of it… kind of. I love this touch. To execute the Morgan one would cower and cover the vitals… that is the head and groin area.
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Episode Review: Chuck 214 Chuck Versus the Best Friend

Chuck's friendship with Morgan is tested when he's put on a high-level assignment to befriend Anna's new boyfriend. Watch the episode streaming online above.

I love the speech that Morgan gives on family. This is a great example of progressive speculative fiction when he asks what makes someone family?

Best fist fight inside a car. I love how they keep finding fun ways to have fights.

They also discuss what is a partnership? What is a partnership built upon? and the answer of trust.

Spoiler Alert

I really got a kick out of the real spy following the fake spy who are stalking Anna.

I can’t help myself so at about 19 minutes into the show there is a part when Lester goes into a rant and worries that the future of the band could lead to him “being found by a maid after asphyxiating himself to death while making love to himself.” I couldn’t help but to add “It could be worse he could get sucked into a Zelda game!” If you do not get the joke check out The Legend of Neil, it’s hilarious.

I love the touching twist at the end when Casey and Sarah are all choked up when they think Chuck died in the car.